Students learn entrepreneurship by doing business

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Desy, an 8th-grader at Citra Kasih Junior High School in West Jakarta, is busy serving customers lined up in front of her food stall in the schoolyard. With the help of her classmates, Desy served sandwiches, omelets and beverages to her customers -- fellow students and their parents.

Desy's stint at being a food vendor was just one of several activities organized at Citra Kasih as part of its Entrepreneurship Day, held on Jan. 25.

Entrepreneurship Day provides extracurricular activities that aim to develop entrepreneurship skills among students. On that day, each student participated in one of four available activities: Jingle Contest, Garage Sale, Business Plan and Service Station.

Those who like music and have the ability to compose songs could join the Jingle Contest while those who are keen to learn how to run a business can join the Business Plan activity.

"The idea came from Pak Ciputra (the noted businessman and philanthropist), the owner of this school. As a successful entrepreneur, he wanted to set up a school that would produce more entrepreneurs," said Citra Kasih principal Diana Siagian.

Teachers at the school, Diana said, were tasked with developing their students' entrepreneurship skills and character, and were sent to an entrepreneurship training workshop in Lembang, West Java, to help them fulfill this task.

"The training has manifested in the form of this Entrepreneurship Day," Diana told The Jakarta Post during the event.

The school's Entrepreneurship Day is not just a fun exercise; it is an educational program through which students are encouraged to learn business by doing business.

Upon entering the schoolyard that day, several students could be seen washing a car in one corner. Several marquees had been erected, beneath which plastic chairs and tables were arranged. With this setup, a separate student team was running an outdoor cafe, complete with a student band that performed live music for their customers.

The car wash and the cafe were part of the Service Section.

Meanwhile, other students were offering dolls and accessories at the Garage Sale while some others, including Desy and her teammates, were offering food and drink under the Business Plan activity.

"Today's Entrepreneurship Day is the third event, following similar events held in 2006 and 2007," Diana said.

According to Diana, students could learn different aspects of business through the event. For example, they had to make surveys into what their schoolmates wanted to eat during class breaks, decide what foods they wanted to sell and estimate how much profit they expected to gain.

Diana said that not all business plans the students proposed were approved by the teachers.

"For example, we rejected a proposal from a group that wanted to run a beauty salon. We thought it was not feasible," she said.

The school offered cash loans for student groups to use as capital for their "businesses", Diana said. Some groups took the loan, but others did not.

"They may use the money for business activities until March, but they must repay the loan to the school," she added.

She said the school encouraged students to develop their creativity, which was crucial to entrepreneurship.

Desy, who has taken part in Entrepreneurship Day twice, said that she learned many things from the activity.

"What I learned is that selling something does not always bring a profit. I also learned about teamwork from this activity," said Desy.